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Emma Conti ’24 knew from a young age that she loved the outdoors. “My family has been going camping since I was one year old,” says Emma. “I always knew I wanted to work in the woods.”

Emma found her academic home in the Forestry program at University of Vermont’s (�պ�����) Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. In June, she’ll be moving to Ely, Minnesota, to begin her career as a Forester at Superior National Forest. Her coursework as a Forestry major prepared her well for the role, but that wasn’t all Emma did to lay the groundwork for a rewarding and dynamic career in her field.  “I found out about the job because I’m the president of the forestry club. We go to the National Society of American Foresters conference every year and there’s a hiring event for recent graduates at the conference,” Emma explained. 

When she was a sophomore in high school in Dighton, Massachusetts, she participated in her high school’s environmental shop-style program. “I had a wonderful teacher there who fostered my love of learning about the environment,” Emma said. “It was so great, and it showed me I wanted to study the environment in college.”

Emma’s college decision was also something of a no-brainer after she tagged along on her older brother’s tour of �պ����� while she was a high school sophomore. “I fell in love with campus, I fell in love with Vermont, and I thought, ‘wow, I need to go here.’” She looked into the Rubenstein School’s programs and the opportunities available to undergraduates such as research and perennial internships. “I went on tours of other colleges and nothing ever gave me the same feeling I had when I was walking around here,” Emma recollects. “I just knew that this was the place and I never doubted. It’s been awesome here.”  

Despite not joining the forestry club until her sophomore year, Emma’s membership and engagement with that club set her on a path that has equipped her not only with the ideal tools for her forestry job but with a strong network of friends and colleagues. “The thing about the forestry program and the forestry club is that everybody knows everybody and we’re all so supportive of each other,” Emma said.

She is also on the leadership team of the group Femmes in Forestry, a club where women and non-binary students in natural resources and other STEM majors can build community, network, and access mentorship and skill-building opportunities. Emma’s engagement with forestry related clubs didn’t go unnoticed by her professors and mentors. “The program is so fortunate that Emma got involved with our Forestry and Femmes in Forestry Clubs so early in her time at �պ�����, as she has been an important leader and peer mentor in our community,” said Tony D’Amato, Director of the Forestry Program and �պ����� Research Forests. 

Emma didn’t start out as a Forestry major—she started her first year as a Natural Resources major (now called Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy). She picked Natural Resources because it was the “broad choice.” She enrolled in the Intro to Forestry course her first year and really enjoyed it, which made her begin to wonder about changing her major.

“When I came in, I definitely thought I was a natural resources student, and I was never going to change my major. I went from that to ‘I want to change my major because forestry is perfect for me.’ That’s something that you learn at Rubenstein: that there are more things out there that you might like more.” 

Emma’s observation about “everybody knowing everybody” and the supportive nature of the Forestry program at the Rubenstein School has proven correct many times over. A hallmark of the Rubenstein experience is the Perennial Internship Program, which provides internship experiences to students that allow them to build relationships with environmentally-focused companies and organizations while gaining valuable job experience.

Emma applied for an internship with Tony D’Amato. “I didn’t end up getting that internship, but Tony connected me with another perennial internship working for the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative (FEMC). I worked for FEMC that summer and realized, ‘oh my gosh, I love forestry. This is exactly what I can imagine myself doing.’”

Emma switched her major to Forestry soon after her first summer with FEMC. “Emma is an amazing example of a student that has taken full advantage of the classroom, field, and internship opportunities provided by the Rubenstein School and the Forestry program to position themselves for a career that will have great impact on the stewardship of our nation’s forests,” said Tony. “It will be fun to watch her go onto great things out in Minnesota.” 

Emma worked at FEMC for two summers, first as a general field technician and then as a crew lead. “I learned a lot about data collection and fieldwork in general, and got used to being in the woods for ten hours a day,” Emma said. “I gained a lot of leadership experience as well.” Her internship, paired with her coursework, made her the perfect candidate for her job in Minnesota.

Whether it was hands-on, program-specific courses like Silviculture or membership and engagement in forestry-based clubs, Emma took every opportunity to gain experience, build connections, and take advantage of all that the Rubenstein School has to offer. She recommends that current and prospective students do the same. “I got a job because of the forestry club. When you start joining clubs and being active in the Rubenstein community, professors and faculty members will start to notice you. My advice is to introduce yourself to faculty. Meet new people. Put your name out there because it can really give you a lot of opportunities.”

Emma will head out west for Minnesota in June after she graduates in May. She’s never lived outside of New England, and she’s looking forward to living somewhere with different ecosystems than Vermont and Massachusetts. The work she’ll be doing as a forester will revolve around timber sale preparation and management. She’ll be marking trees, ensuring that the right trees are being cut down and that everybody involved is up to code on water quality issues. She’ll also be doing post-timber sale work which focuses on sapling regeneration and monitoring of timber cuts. “I feel like a lucky person because what I studied in college is something that I actually want to do. I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned. It’s going to be a new journey in my life.” 

all photos courtesy of Emma Conti